Like Glass
by awesomesauceliz
Summary: There's a reason Sniper doesn't expose his emotions to others. Lonely, maybe. But it's for their safety; he's sure it is. But nonetheless, when a painful moment from his past is ripped back into reality, Sniper finds himself at the mercy of his emotions, as well as a worried comrade.


It was raining. It wasn't the kind of rain where the sky really rolled up its sleeves and got down to the business of soaking everything, but it was enough to turn the ground to mud and cancel the day's match. The day had started off promising enough, but as everyone got covered in muck enough to make identifying enemies and allies impossible, the Administrator called it a day and everyone trudged back to their respective bases. Well, almost everyone.

Sniper tapped his fingers against his leg, listening to the rain patter with his eyes closed. He hummed a tune under his breath as he looked out from his sniper nest onto the sodden ground below. It almost reminded him of that time he climbed a tree, years back, and ran out of stones to throw at the other kids. A nasty storm blew in and they only let him down when it was well and truly pissing. It was a long walk home. It got better after…. well, that was the past.

He probably missed dinner, but he didn't care. There was always yelling and insults and fights and Heavy breaking something again… and it was peaceful out here listening to the rain. He knew it wouldn't last, sooner or later someone would come to find him, but that didn't matter right now. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated his smile in the darkness. They were all covered in it, but something about seeing Scout fly face first into the mud for the umpteenth time had made his day. Sniper chuckled at the memory of Scout running across the field one minute, sprawled in the mud the next. No, he would stay out for a while. Everyone would be in a foul mood anyways.

He listened to the rain for a while, and became aware of footsteps approaching. Light, fast, footsteps.

"Wotayah want, Scout?" he grumbled.

Scout emerged from the shadows, sneering. "Well, what do we have here huh? Mistah Big Shot Snipuh. Comin' down anytime soon?"

"Oh, piss off, you rat bag."

Scout took a step closer. "Da hell's wrong wit'chu man?

Sniper whipped around, scowling. Scout's persistence was beyond irritating. "Piss off, bug'ead!" he snapped.

Scout scowled and muttered "...friggin' bastard…" under his breath. Raising his voice, he retorted "How about treatin' somebody like a human being fer' once? No wonda you're always alone, the way you treat people. Nobuddeh likes you anyweh!"

Sniper pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. Wouldn't the bloody punk just leave him be? He didn't care what Scout had come to see him for;, he wasn't taking any more of this. He got up and slung his rifle over his shoulder, heading for the door before he gave Scout a rightly deserved bullet between the eyes.

"Yeah, that's right. Just some lonely old man holed up here all day. Snipuhs don't have friends!" Scout called after Sniper as he left the room. Sniper paused, his hand tightening on his kukri. _He doesn't need all of his fingers, so taking one won't hurt… _ _… _He stood there for a moment before shaking his head and walking out. Scout watched him go, irritated. Sniper was long gone when a voice muttered "ImbecileIdiot _garçon_, when I told you to get zhe sniper out of his nest zhis is not vhat I meant!"

Sniper trudged through the mud, not even feeling the rain that pattered off of his hat and soaked his clothes. He sure as hell wasn't going inside now. He leaned against the side of his camper van as he fumbled with the door catch, clambering in, slamming and locking it shut behind him. Leaning his head against the door, he slid down to the floor, taking off his glasses. He exhaled shakily, wiping his eyes.

"Oi did 'ave friends, yah bloody wankah. Oi did….."

His heart lurched, a memory he'd forced to the back of his memory resurfaced.

_Ten years, five months, and two days ago..._

A smiling, freckled, True Blue sheilah with dark brown hair punched him in the arm playfully as they joked. They were in their twenties, sitting in a billabong miles away from society, swatting flies, and watching animals roam. It was their form of a "date." The sniper, who'd kept his first name a secret ever since they'd met (she got used to just calling him by his last name, which was Mundy) chuckled, but the laughter was short lived as he looked off into the distance. Lily looked over, frowning slightly. "Wot's tha ma'ermattah'?

He didn't look over. "Nothin.'"

She cocked an eyebrow, tilting her head to look at him in disbelief. "Shu' i', Oi ain't stupid, Oi know there is!"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Really, it's nothin'." A mosquito droned in his ear and he slapped it without moving his head. Lily watched him for a moment.

"Mundy, yer doin' it' again."

He raised an eyebrow at her finally turning to look at her, "Doin' wot?"

She crossed her arms, scowling. "Holdin' back. You know Oi hat'e it' when yah do tha'that!"

Mundy was silent, and rather than reply he watched a fish swim in the water below them. The breeze sighed through the coolibah trees in the sudden silence as a bird chirped off in the distance.

"Mundy…" She sighed quietly, "Yer a difficult bastard, yah know?"

Mundy snickered, breaking the tension. "But yah love me!" he joked.  
Lily smiled, uncrossing her arms. "Yeh. Buot really, Mundy." She looked at him, but his gaze fell again.

Lily grabbed his face, her hands on his cheeks. "Lookit me!" she said firmly, looking him dead in the eyes.

Mundy stared back. Her heterochromia iridium made one eye slightly greener than the other, and he always found it made her look rather cute. But now it made her five times more intense. She was not going to back down until she has wrung some kind of confession out of him. "Wot." He said it as a statement more than a question.

Lily stared at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing with frustration. "Wot. Is. Tha'. Ma'erMattah'?" she said, each word punctuated for emphasis. Mundy was quiet, listening to the bugs buzz and the birds chirp before he spoke, sighing.

"Oi'm werried 'about you."

"Wot? Woi? Ain't nothin' wrong with me, mate!" she said, almost defensively, demanding an explanation. Mundy got slightly frustrated, replying in exasperation, "Oi did'n' say there wos, but - "

Lily interrupted him, "Then woi're yah werryin'? We've always got through think'n'thin togetha', woi werry now?"

Mundy scratched the back of his head, almost as if embarrassed. "Cos… Oi dunno, yer moi only friend, so..."

Lily looked a bit taken back from shock. "Crikey!" She laughed. "That's so sweet, Mundy!"  
Mundy smiled, running a hand through his hair.

Lily giggled, "Oh, yer a fla'erin' man, you! Buot Oi still don' underastand woi yer werried."

Mundy sighed and shook his head, "It's jus'...Oi know men in tha snoipin' business, an' there're no such things as 'mercy' n' 'fairness.' There's plent'y'a blokes that'll take yer 'head off in a heartbeat if tha's wot it takes tah git to me."

Lily rolled her eyes and feigned incredulousness, "Oh really?" she said dryly.

He frowned, hearing her sarcasm. "Wot?"

Lily laughed. "Loike Oi don' know that! C'mon silly did'ya take me for a drongo? Oi know the snoipin' biz'nessbusiness is cut throat!"

Mundy chuckled with her despite himself. "If yah know that', then woi're yah still 'here? They-"

She cut him off, "Werry 'bout yer own ass, Mundy! Yer own 'head!" she said, aggravated at her friend again.

"Oi ain't talkin' 'bout moi 'ead, Oi mean yers!" he persisted.

"Wot's it' ma'ermattah' to yah?" she asked, getting angry that he was refusing to see her point. From long years of friendship, she knew that he could be as bullheaded as her. But if she could wear him down long enough, he'd see sense.

Mundy was getting frustrated for the same reason, "Oi jus' don' think it's safe!"  
Lily scoffed, "Loike yer whole job is safe!"

The sniper growled softly, trying to get her to see, "Oi'm good at keepin' low. Buot Oi don' wanna 'have tah force yah into hidin' too cos'a of me. Oi jus' want yah to be safe."

Lily sighed, her hands still on his face, and she shakes it. "That' still ain't a good reason tah werry! Yah got betta' things tah keep in that' pretty head a yers."

He put his hands on her arms. "Lily, Oi'm dangerous tah be aroun'! Listen, there're people sayin' that Oi'm too good t'leave alive, that if somun' doesn' take me out that they'll all be outa' a job! They'll try anythin'!"

"Yah think that'll stop me?" she asked defiantly.

"It should' be enough! Isn't yer own loife important?" He felt like he was trying to convince a child to eat their vegetables, with the argument being, "They're good for you!"

The woman nodded smiling, "Course it' is! Yerah loife is too!"

Mundy rubbed his forehead. "Then listen! Oi don' want you tah get hurt!"

She'd had enough, "Oi don' want' yer werry an' yer feelin's, Mundy!"

"Oi ain't givin' you moi feelin's, Lily!"

Lily leaned in, her arms sliding to his shoulders and her eyes inches from his face, and asked quietly, "Wot do you want, Mundy?" She was through with arguing, and decided to be straightforward. She realized that neither of them would budge, so they might as well come to an understanding.

Unbeknownst to them, someone watched from afar. He wasn't able to hear what they were saying, but could tell they were fighting about something. He pulled his rifle off his back, loaded it, and then settled himself within shooting distance on a slight incline hidden in all the brush. A mosquito crawled along on his arm, but he pay no attention. He was, after all, a professional. He'd looked through the scope, first at Mundy, then at Lily.

Mundy looked at Lily in exasperation. "Oi want' you tah git as far from me as yah can. People Oi care about' get 'hurt."

Lily smiled at him sweetly, her eyes twinkling as she wrinkled her nose. "Not 'happenin'." He goggled at her for a moment.

"Woi." He said this as a statement, not a question.

The girl was frank. "BecosCos you're moi friend. And' Oi ain't leavin' a friend. Yewl haf'ta do betta' then that' t'get rid of me, Mundy."

He sighed, giving up. "Yer fuckin' crazy."

She broke into a grin, "Oh, y'know it! Ain't that' woi we're friends? Us crazies haf'ta stick togetha', don'cha know?"

Mundy nodded, sighing. "Alroight, foine. Stay. Oi can't shake ya anyways." Lily smiled, and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. This surprised the sniper, but he hugged back, smiling.

The other sniper squinted, the crosshairs lingering on the woman's forehead. She was a pretty young thing, in his opinion. Could do without the weird eye coloring, though. He'd gotten word that she was close to the man, possibly a girlfriend by the way things were going along. This would be the perfect way to get to him, to send a little message. He didn't regret what he was about to do, because frankly, business was business. This was his warning shot.

Lily let go, her hands resting on his shoulders. "You werry 'about yerself, mate. If they don' play fair, at least Oi know you do," she said as her smile grew. "Oi trust you."

Mundy smiled back, "Alroight."

The crosshairs were placed over the girl's chest, over the right lung. A lethal shot, given the fact they were out in the middle of nowhere. The trigger was pulled, time slowed down, and all sounds ceased.

A clicking, not a gunshot, rang out. The man knew there'd be no gunshot; his rifle was silenced.

Lily felt a sharp _thud_ in her chest, and looked down, confused and in shock, putting a hand to her bosom and felt the hot liquid that was also leaking from her mouth, and nose. She looked at it, seeing the red as her vision blurred from the tears of pain. Mundy looked down at the hole in Lily's chest and the growing crimson streak down her chest and stomach. His heart sank like a cold knife, plunging through his stomach and into the ground. His arms weighed a million pounds as he'd pulled her hand from the wound. "Lily…" She was speechless as her other hand fell off his shoulders and she slumped forwards, her eyes wide, tears of shock and fear flowing from them. Time rushed in like an unforgiving tide. "Lily!" he screamed, pulling his shirt off and pressing it hard against the entrance wound. He then had realized that the bullet had exited, and pulled the shirt off, and ripped it in half, applying one half to each wound.

He knew they were miles from the nearest hospital, but he was damned if he wasn't going to try. He'd scooped her up, causing her to emit a weak noise, and run to his van, laying her down gently, then hopped in, whirred the vehicle up, and floored it all the way to the hospital. Every time he looked over at her she hadn't moved, her eyes not moving from his face. He'd burst into the hospital knowing she was holding on, but struggling immensely. He, however, had not been ready to let her go.

One hour. One hour of painfully waiting, praying, cursing, and trying not to cry later, a nurse came in and asked him if he would please come with her. No matter how many questions he'd asked her, she refused to answer him.

When he saw her, the walls broke and tears began silently flowing down his face. He leaned against the wall, and words failed him. A doctor was trying to talk to him, but the sight was too much. She wasn't dead, but might as well've been. And an hour later she was.

The world became a dream, a living, hellish nightmare, and he felt his heart shatter like glass. Never again. He couldn't do this again.

Someone was banging on the door, snapping him back into reality. "Sniper?" He recognized the French accent, but he was in no mood to deal with any of his teammates. He hugged his knees to his chest and banged his head against the door, closing his eyes. "Sniper, open zhe door, I am worried about you."  
"Git outta 'ere, Spook!" his voice cracking with grief, then clamped a hand over his mouth, choking on his words. He could hear that the Frenchman was still outside his door, but he wished that the spy would just leave him alone. He wished the whole world would, for that matter.

Unbeknownst to him, Spy leaned against the door with his forehead against it. "Zhere is no reason to be alone, mon ami…" he whispered.

The sniper's keen hearing picked the words, and he took a long, shaky breath, tears still streaming down his face as he shut his eyes. His heart was torn open again, the scars exposed and bleeding. "Never again…"

Spy was silent for a moment, staring at the door as the rain fell around him. He wasn't fond of getting his suit wet, but he wasn't about to leave the man to brood. "Sniper, at least let me in... _S'il vous plaît_.

Sniper exhaled shakily, his chest shuddering. "Yah don' want t'be around me, mate."

Spy put a hand against the door, worried about his teammate. Sniper wasn't the cheeriest man on the team, but right now he sounded as if he was on a razor's edge. Sensing him waver, he pressed onward. "Sniper, it's raining out here, may I at least come in for a moment?"

The man on the other side of the door was silent, and then after what felt like an eternity, Spy heard movement. The door opened a crack. "Be quick." Sniper growled.

Spy edged his way into the camper, kicking the mud off of his shoes respectfully before he entered. Sniper looked terrible. His eyes were red and puffy, and he was shaking slightly. And he didn't have his aviators on, which he knew were important to the man.

"Wot do you want?" Sniper muttered, his eyes narrowing as he sat down at the kitchenette's table and tossed his hat to the side. Spy sat down across from him carefully, like he was facing down a frightened deer. He had to be careful; he didn't want to upset Sniper further.

"I am just worried about you, mon ami. You are avoiding everyone, chasing all of uz away more zhan usual. What iz wrong?"

Sniper rubbed at his forehead, staring at, but more so through him. "Wot's wrong is that' you people won' leave me alone. Snipuhs can't be close t'anyonewun."

"And you zhink zhat iz different from being a spy? When one is a spy, mon ami, everyone can and _will _be your enemy. You are no different zhan me." He leaned closer to Sniper. "We are professionals, and professionals know how to take care of zhemselves."

Sniper put his hands on the table and stared at them, quiet for a moment. "...M'friends die…" he whispered.

Spy placed a hand on Sniper's arm, causing him to look up. "Everyone will die, Sniper, and we are no different from zhe rest, for all tzhat Respawn gives uz more time. You and I will perish zhomeday as well, and we cannot change zhat. What we can change iz how we live. Friends come and go, but zhey will live on," he paused, putting one hand on the sniper's chest, "here," he moved his hand to Mundy's forehead and tapped a finger there, "and here. All you must do is remember zhem, and zhey will always be zhere." His voice dropped to just above a whisper. "And I will too, mon ami."

Sniper breathed shakily, his eyes shining with tears, and he smiled a little at Spy. He placed a shaky hand on top of Spy's, moving slowly.

"Thanks, mate."

~Thank you for reading! This was a co-op piece with a friend, and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it. Again, thank you!~


End file.
